Pope Francis has called for an international investigation into allegations of Israeli genocide in Gaza. In a book, to be published on Tuesday, the pontiff said,:“According to some experts what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” Vatican News reported.
This was the first time the Argentinian-born pope has publicly used the word “genocide” in reference to Gaza. He has previously said Israel’s attacks on Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, and its military has violated the laws of war.
Gaza’s death toll stands at nearly 44,000, of whom 70 per cent are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities.
Pope Francis (87) has also called for Hamas’s release of Israeli hostages, and on November 14th met 16 Israelis freed by Hamas, which killed 1,200 and abducted 251 during its 2023 attack, Israel says.
Pope Francis has previously used “genocide” to refer to the second World War extermination of Jews, the Ottoman massacre of Armenians and killing of Tutsis in Rwanda. He is one of the world’s most high-profile figures to suggest Israel’s Gaza campaign could be considered genocide.
The book by Hernan Reyes Alcaide, Hope Never Disappoints – Pilgrims Toward a Better World, consists of interviews with Pope Francis, and has been released ahead of the church’s 2025 jubilee.
Israel’s Vatican ambassador Yaron Sideman replied to the pope on X: “There was a genocidal massacre on October 7th, 2023, of Israeli citizens, and since then Israel has exercised its right of self-defence against attempts from seven different fronts to kill its citizens. Any attempt to call it by any other name is singling out the Jewish State.”
Publication of the pope’s remarks coincided with a statement from the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) condemning Israel’s “flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and relevant UN resolutions”, and calling for the UN Security Council “to assume its responsibilities [by] stopping war crimes and massacres committed by the Israeli occupation, [and] ensuring the entry of sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip”, the Saudi press agency reported.
The OIC’s statement followed last week’s annual report of a UN special committee that said Israeli actions in Gaza were “consistent with the characteristics of genocide”. Established in 1968 following Israel’s occupation of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the committee also expressed concern that Israel was “using starvation as a weapon of war” in Gaza.
Israel has been ordered by the International Court of Justice to adopt measures to prevent genocide until the court rules, in response to a South African petition, on whether Israel’s war in Gaza is genocidal.
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